Secret Of The Arcyria Keys
by Northwestern-Requiem
Summary: Set 2 years after Armada,When the Autbots come back to Earth to investigate an ancient legend,they find themselves,along with their human friends,in a war they never imagined and a situation that will change their lives forever.R&R,flames used for smores
1. Return

**FROM NEW YORK CITY, THIS IS DJ RAE WITH HER NEW KICK. DON'T LIKE IT? TOO BAD HERE IT IS! **

H'okay! I just saw the transformers movie on DVD for the 30th time (I am counting) , and I am PUMPED!! (I wrote this directly afterward, so bear with me…)

So this takes place in between the Armada and the Energon time. So, no Bumble, no Jazz, just Optimus Prime, HotShot, SideSwipe, and RedAlert.

And all the others to follow.

Being serious here for a minute. Dun dun dunnnnnnn!!! I know, it's tragic. But I really hope you like this one; I put a ton of effort into it!

Without further ado, here it is: Secret of the Arcyria keys/ Chapter 1: Terra

DISCLAIMER!!! DJ: Nooooo! Don't make me give them up! huggles Autobot chibi's

….sob fine! I….don't…own……sob TRANSFORMERS!!!! runs off and cries

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

For a moment, it was a beautiful sun dawning over a large desert town. The sky was painted in shades of pink, blue, yellow and orange. It was silent all except for a lone morning wind blowing through the rock formations and the few trees growing, but high up on the barren mountains, a strange thing was occurring. A Crimson- Magenta mist appeared and started to form into a deep void. The air was dense with pressured anticipation, and with a burst came four tall and bulky figures.

For a moment, all was silent, until the middle right figure inhaled deeply.

"Man! It's been a while hasn't it?" it asked

"Two years, to be exact." Said the one on the far left.

The middle right figure sighed and looked out at the sleepy little town.

"Huh. Wonder where the kids are…"

The shadowed body on the far right spoke next "Wherever they are, we need to find them."

The final figure that stood next to the one who first spoke nodded. "Yes, they could be the only ones who can help us."

"Ha! I wonder if they still remember us?" the right one chuckled.

For a moment, the atmosphere seemed peaceful and calm as it did just a few minutes before. "We will soon find out"

All that could be heard was the roar of four engines as they zoomed off into the horizon.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Hey Alexis!" a blonde haired boy ran down a sidewalk towards a girl. Her brown hair shined as she turned to see him. "Oh hey Rad, Carlos and I were looking for you. Why were you so late to school today? Let me guess, yet another _power outage _at your house?"

The boy, Rad, quickly changed the topic, "SO, what's everyone all jazzed up about?" He asked as they walked to their high school. The students were alive and buzzing, which is strange for high school students so early in the morning. They had long since passed 7th and 8th grade, and now were finally in the ninth grade.

Before Alexis could answer, another boy came bounding up to them. He was obviously of Hispanic heritage, with black hair and brown eyes.

"Hey Carlos." Alexis said flatly, already bored with the morning.

"Hey did you guys hear? Our class is getting a new transfer student!" the boy told them.

"That's what's going on." Alexis told Rad as she giggled. The trio trekked towards their class. If only they knew what was to take place on this seemingly average day.

Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalal

The sun gleamed down on the town, the palm trees a spot of green in the vast rocky landscape.

'_Nothing's changed since they left.' _Rad sighed, turning his attention away from the window. Visions flew through his head of the many adventures he and his two other friends had with the Autobots. The teen couldn't help but give a faint smile, remembering his alien friends. But before he could reminisce about them, the teacher's less-than-enthusiastic voice came from the front of the room'

"Ok kids, settle down! First thing this morning, a new student, hurray… now you all say hi to Terra Miller." the teacher said as he stood in front of the class. He opened the door to reveal a shy, pale, and very petite girl standing in the door frame. The teacher took her hand and brought her in; she finally got the courage to look up with her Amber eyes. _"H-hey." _She said with a slight blush covering her cheeks. It had to be the New Student syndrome.

Rad leaned over to Carlos "Hey man, are you sure about this is the new girl?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the girl, who was at the moment, avoiding the eyes of her new classmates..

"Yeah, she came from, like Maine or something."

"She's a little freaked out; do we look like zombies or something?"

Rad felt a harsh punch on his shoulder; he turned to glare at none other than Alexis.

"Will you just give her a break?! It _is_ her first day, and she looks really nice, so you be good to her!" the girl demanded. The two boys knew Alexis's wrath was a thousand times worse than anything either of them could think of.

As they looked back up, the saw Terra clutching distractingly at her brown peasant dress. She had it over a cream colored tank-top and Jeans.

What Rad found interesting was Terra's Bracelet. It was composed of many silver wires with three, round, beautiful, blue stones sitting on top of them.

The girl quickly and shakily walked to the empty seat behind Rad, hiding her face behind a math book to try and keep people from staring.

When the teacher finally started teaching, Rad turned around to face her,

"Hi!" he stated quickly.

The poor girl almost jumped out of her skin, as soon as she calmed, she smiled faintly and replied with a wave before she quickly looked down into her book to avoid Rad's eyes.

"Why are you so shy?" Carlos suddenly probed Terra.

The girl shot up, blushing profusely through her scarlet bangs while the rest of her hair was pulled into a pony-tail that fell to her shoulders.

"Heh, new state, new school."She answered nervously, shrugging her shoulders as if she didn't know.

As Rad was about to talk to her more, the teacher called out; "Ahem! Bradley White! If you are done questioning your new classmate, then why don't you tell me about the story I assigned to you on Tuesday?"

Rad grimaced when he realized he had forgotten to do the homework the teacher had given out.

Alexis and Carlos chuckled behind him. Homework, especially Mythology, was not his forte.

He was about to take a shot in the dark when he heard a faint whisper behind him,

"_You're bad at this aren't you? It's a legend about a war and an ancient weapon.'_

Rad turned a bit to see Terra, avoiding his gaze, but hid a smirk.

He decided to trust her and replied to the teacher; "Well, it's a legend about a war and an ancient weapon." he asked, hoping that it was right. To his satisfaction, Rad turned out to be right.

Sighing, the teacher tried to stabilize himself looking back up, he asked his class "Alright, can anyone elaborate on that?"

All was quiet except the chirping of birds outside the window. The blank stares that focused on the teacher were enough to give the educator an aneurism. On the verge of hitting himself with his book, the man saw a hand rise.

"Yes, Miss Miller, for the love of all that is holy, please help him out…"

The girl shifted a little, "Um, I guess that, 7 millennia ago this Empress had found an incredible weapon of either mass destruction of great potential, depending on who wielded it." Terra paused to breathe for a moment, "But, apparently, the whole world wanted to have that weapon too, so, this war was waged on the Empress's lands. Supposedly, to stop all this, she locked away her weapon and hid the keys. She was said to be killed by the invaders and the weapon was told to be never found."

The teacher nodded, pivoted around, and dropped the subject of the legend and focused on that day's lesson.

Rad had been listening to Terra's explanation. He also noticed that she hadn't had her book open when she was speaking. '_She must know the story by heart. Empresses, Weapons of mass destruction, and crazy legends. Why do we need to know this stuff?' _He thought. Shaking off the questions, he opened his book and listened to his teacher's lecture.

As soon as class got out for the day, Rad, Alexis, and Carlos all ran to find the new girl. As they all turned a corner, they saw Terra walking with her books close to her chest. They started to walk towards her, but hesitated when they saw her trip and fall on her face. The people around her laughed and called her a klutz. The gang quickly ran to the fallen girl, who just blushed and insisted she was alright.

Rad remembered the classroom incident and decided to thank her.

"Hey, Terra. What you did in there was awesome; you're really good at Math."

As if she didn't want to be thanked, Terra started to say something, but then decided not to.

"Your parents must be totally proud!" Carlos explained

Terra then looked like Carlos had struck a cord, but then quickly masked it with the purest of smiles. "Oh, yes. They are."

"Terra, is something wrong?" Alexis piped up.

Terra just shook her head. The group eyed the shy girl, almost expecting her to explode from having 3 sets of eyes on her.

"Um... I have to go now. It was nice meeting you all!" Terra said quickly, running towards the exit.

Rad, Alexis, and Carlos all watched her leave, each with different thoughts of the strange girl running through their heads.

As they started to walk home, Alexis pulled out her Mythology book and cracked it open to the correct page. She read a small bit, but stopped when she started to laugh. The two boys looked back at her. "What's up, Alexis, what's so funny?"

Controlling herself, the girl replied. "This crazy legend our teacher assigned us, its total kids fairy-tales. We might as well be learning about Humpty-Dumpty."

Rad gave her a strange look, "what's so weird about it?"

Taking a breath, Alexis raised the book to her eyes and read the paragraph with an evident strain not to laugh. "Well, this supposed 'weapon of mass destruction' was said to have been carved from a falling star, and that back 7,000 years ago, there was a massive race of super-humans who all had different supernatural abilities. Oh man, this sounds like a really bad sci-fi movie." She joked.

The boys smiled and shrugged. "I don't care about that story, dude, I do the homework and I pass the class. That's all I'm going to do for that awful teacher we have." Carlos said in a bored tone. The brunette put her book away, "I'm surprised you haven't pulled any stunts with him like you have with our other teachers."

Both laughed at the memories of them pulling pranks on their unsuspecting teachers.

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be any fun doing any of that stuff on him, he'd probably just throw himself out a window." Rad teased.

Carlos and Rad started to joke about the day. Alexis, on the other hand, was just watching the scenery. The leaves falling, the birds singing, the strange light in the atmosphere…. Her eyes quickly wandered back to that same spot and stared straight at it. It was too early for the stars or the moon to be out; planes wouldn't be using their lights so early in the day either. Alexis felt her heart sink. Could it be?

A strange, foreign feeling overwhelmed the poor girl, like the sky was about to fall. She remembered, a long time ago, back in 7th grade, when she and her friends encountered this feeing before. That was the first time they had met: The human children and the Transformers from Cybertron.

And out of instinct, she turned to her two friends and explained what she had felt. The two boys just looked at each other, and then burst out laughing. Thoroughly ticked, Alexis shouted "what's so funny? You think I'm lying?!"

"I think you may have gone a little loco, Alexis." Carlos said through his laughs.

Rad agreed. "Yeah, the Transformers all went to their home world two years ago!"

Alexis got steamed in the face as she retorted "I'm not making it up!"

As if fate chose to prove her right, which the boys should know by now was almost ALWAYS, at that very moment, an ambulance pulled up next to them. And on it, a logo the three friends could never forget. The symbol of the Autobots.

The door next to them opened, "Long time, No see, kids." A voice out of no where drifted into their ears.

"RedAlert!" they shouted in unison, it was good to see him, but it puzzled them even more about what was going on

Alexis couldn't resist, "I told you guys!"

Ignoring her rant, Rad took a step towards the emergency vehicle "what are you doing her RedAlert? I thought you guys were on your home planet."

There was a long pause, "Come with me, I'll explain everything when we get back to the others."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As soon as the kids climbed into RedAlert, he took of with his sirens blaring at full speed.

"Whoa! Hey, RedAlert, why are you here? I thought everything was going well on Cybertron!" Carlos asked.

RedAlert rounded a bend, but responded. "Everything's fine at home, but a problem has arisen here on Earth."

This statement made the trio uneasy. "Don't worry about it. Everything will be explained soon" RedAlert enlightened.

The kids perked up. "Who else is here?" Rad asked.

RedAlert started to go up the mountains, where the veiw changed into a beautiful picture of serene calmness. "For this mission, we had to have a small team, but if things get rough, we have back-up waiting. Optimus, HotShot, and SideSwipe are here now. They sent me to find you. Although it was preferred that you didn't get involved in this mess, we needed your help for this."

The three stayed quiet for a few moments, remembering the other Transformers.

Before Rad, Alexis, or Carlos could say anything more, they had arrived at their long awaited destination.

The kids couldn't get out swift enough, but to their astonish ment, there was nothing there.

They all turned back to see RedAlert transform into robot mode. He smiled at their confused facial expressions. "You didn't think they'd be out here in the open, did you?" the medical bot smirked.

Alexis looked at him a little bewildered. "Then where are they?" she pondered.

"Where else would they be?" Carlos answered.

The girl looked as if she wanted to smack herself for her stupidity. "The base."

ooooooooooooooo

It was a trip down memory lane for the kids as they ran around every turn of the gleaming base the Autobots inhabited.

Turn after turn, step after step, the humans finally knew they had reached their end when they heard a familiar metallic voice call to them:

"Hey kids, it's been a while!"

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Gyaaah! I'm so bad at math; I probably screwed up that math part. Whatever, it's done. Can anyone tell me who the Autobot who spoke last was?

Review and tell me which one and you shall receive an Optimus Plushy!! Huzzah!

♥'s forever,

Your DJ Rae!


	2. Terra

HA! Here ya go! I have taken the liberty of conjoining this story's title to SOTAK which is what it shall be referred to from now on.

DISCLAIMER/ I DON'T OWN TRANSFORMERS. Wish I did….

Thank you! And have a fabulous time reading!

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The light of the base made it abundantly clear to the trio of kids who the voice who had spoken to them belonged to.

As RedAlert walked up behind them, their minds registered of the beings in front of them. HotShot and SideSwipe. Once their brains reloaded, Rad grinned and responded "Whoa! It's true, you guys are back!"

"Yea, it's great to see you guys again!" Carlos added

The very air of the base was filled with a positive energy. An elder voice chimed in when both of the soldiers didn't respond to the kids: "It's good to see you too, my old friends. I see you three haven't changed much." The trio stood in awe, _He _stepped out. But, was it possible? They had been in Unicron when they saw it happen! Well, they didn't see it happen, but they knew it did. Yet here he was, standing as proud as he did so long ago.

Optimus Prime: leader of the Autobots.

"Optimus! You're-you're alive!!" Rad said, grinning from ear to ear.

The elder nodded, "Quite alive, Rad."

Alexis suddenly remembered, "I don't mean to ruin the moment, but what are you all doing here?" she pondered

The room fell silent for a moment, before HotShot spoke in an unusually serious voice, "Well, believe it or not, the Mini-Cons weren't the only items of value hidden on Earth."

Computer-like chimes were heard by the kids as three little robots peeked from behind HotShot.

"Well speak of the devil." SideSwipe laughed.

Rad, Alexis and Carlos immediately recognized their old friends.

"High Wire!"

"Sureshock!"

"Grindor!"

The little bots were just as ecstatic as their human partners as they ran to them.

"He-he, we missed you! How've you been?" Alexis asked her little orange bot.

Beeps were all she could hear. She sighed, "I still have no idea what you're saying, I need a dictionary or something."

Rad suddenly remembered what the Autobots had been saying. "So what was so important left on Earth?" He had such a bad feeling about this.

Optimus hesitated before replying with an "It's a long story."

HotShot started for him, "See, a really long time ago, there was this really awesome city known as Entaria. And that city's greatest treasure turned out to be this weapon known as the Twilight Sword."

"A sword?" Carlos asked.

"Yes," Optimus spoke, "It had incredible power, and it could morph into any weapon the wielder chose. The Twilight Sword belonged to the Queen on the Entarian Empire, so she needed somebody to protect them both."

"She gathered 17 followers who were very powerful to guard over them, but when a neighboring country started to invade, The Queen had no choice but to seal the Sword with keys. According to legend, both the guardians and the Queen perished." Sideswipe explained as his tone took a serious note.

Carlos was awestruck. "And the sword?"

SideSwipe shook his head. "Never found."

The information given to the kids registered.

"So these keys, how can we find them?" Rad asked.

RedAlert smiled faintly "They give off a signal, like the mini-cons. They activate as they please, unfortunately."

Alexis still was confused, "So has one activated? Is that why you're here now? And the Decepticons too?"

"Decepticons? You saw them Alexis?"

The brunette confirmed grimly "I did." She them informed them of what she had seen on the hillside.

HotShot growled after Alexis told them, "So that creep Megatron is still alive? He must know about the keys if he's on Earth."

Optimus nodded. "Yes, which mean we should move out, on the double!"

The trio couldn't help but smile at the familiar command, so the gang was really back together. Remembering the response, they all answered with an eager:

"Yes, Sir!"

OOOOOooooooooOOOOO

From the coordinates the Autobots had, the first key had activated somewhere in a deserted rock quarry that wasn't too far away. The kids hadn't bothered to change, since the key had been activated some time ago, they needed to move fast. Another familiar sight happened before the kids eyes as all four of the Cybertronian's switched to vehicle mode. Knowing it was better if the split up, Rad went with HotShot, Alexis with RedAlert, and Carlos climbed into SideSwipe.

Another familiar the kids would rather forget was the nauseous feeling the warps made them feel.

"Launch!" Optimus engaged.

All of them were thinned, and then sucked into the screen as if it were a black hole.

And having no experience like that for a long while, Alexis, Rad, and Carlos all felt like puking their guts out.

As the four automobiles roared their engines and started to move in a definite direction, the three humans were alive with questions. "So how did you guys find out about the keys?"

RedAlert responded with an ever so professional voice, "We received a strange signal back home, after that we just cross-checked it with our data-base archives. The keys are known as the 'Arcyria 1(1) keys"

Meanwhile, Rad's memory caught up with him, "Hm. Keys to unlock a sword. I think I heard of that story a long time ago, when I was a kid."

"Really, Rad? Do you know anything else about them?" Carlos spoke over the speaker.

Rad sighed "No, I can't remember much about the story."

Leaning on his hand, the teen's eyes wandered into the distance, focused on a darker spot on the horizon. At first, he noticed it had an odd shape to it, he waved it off. But the feeling of uneasiness never left him. It was only after gazing at the spot for a moment did cold blooded dread run through him.

The sun glared brightly off of metal plating, the echoing thunder of a helicopter roared through the September air, and the blood of a human dripped as a ear-splitting scream was torn from a throat.

There, standing on a higher elevated platform of stone, Megatron stood. StarScream snickered, Demolisher had his lasers aimed, Cyclonus laughed manically. Immediately, the Autobots stopped, staring in horror at the trembling mass Megatron was electrocuting.

A limp, bloody, and sobbing Terra Miller was being held roughly by her arms 50 feet off the ground.

Optimus was the first to transform, and the other followed his lead once the children had gotten out.

"Megatron!" Optimus shouted, catching the sinister transformer off guard,

But poor Terra was frightened out of her mind. As more tears fell, she gazed upon the four gigantic robots looming in the late afternoon sun. Smaller figures caught her eye, and she painfully turned her head to see Rad, Alexis, and Carlos standing determined next to the yellow robot.

Carlos was the one who recognized the body in the evil leader's hand. "Uh, HEY! That's Terra!!!" he shouted to his friends.

"No Way!" Rad gasped.

HotShot turned from the humans to look at the girl. For a moment, they locked eyes with each other. "You guys know her?" He asked, without taking his gaze away.

Alexis nodded, "She's a classmate of ours. And she looks like she's in some major trouble."

At this, Optimus growled. "Release that girl now, Megatron!"

All the Decepticons did was laugh; "Sorry, Prime, but this human knows where the first Arcyria key is, and I intend to get it!" he spoke as Megatron once again shocked her. Pain filled screams left Terra as her body just remained limp.

The rest was a blur. A yellow streak rushed up to the side of the antlered 'bot, slamming into him and catching Terra as the hand that had held her loosened, only to have this new one tighten. With a quick leap, HotShot landed back near his comrades. Amber eyes drifted towards blue ones, confusion evident. HotShot grinned at her, "You okay?"

The scarlet-haired girl blinked a few times, and then nodded.

"Nice work, HotShot!" Optimus called to the soldier, snapping him out of it.

The Autobot stretched and placed Terra high-up on a mining crane, probably used to bring large boulders onto trucks, above where Rad and the others were. "Stay here, ok?" HotShot told her, "You'll be safe here, we'll protect you."

Before the girl could react, the Autobot turned his back to her and faced his enemies.

As Megatron stood up once more, he growled angrily "Curse you Autobot! There is no place you can hide that human that I cannot find! I **will **posses the Sword and bring you accursed Autobots down!"

"Bring it on!" Optimus shouted, aiming his lasers at his mortal enemy.

As the kids ducked for cover, the sky was painted with a brilliant showing of lights.

All three of them hugged the rock closely, determination masking panic.

Rad closed his eyes, remembering the many missions where they had been in the line of fire. "Rad!" the boy's eyes popped open to look at Carlos.

"We need to find that key!" Rad hesitated, and then nodded.

"Yeah, but where are we going to find it?" he asked "It could be anywhere out here!"

Alexis moved closer to the two boys, adrenaline pumping into her eyes "you guys, Megatron said Terra knew where it was! We just have to keep her safe, and she can tell us where the keys are!"

Rad and Carlos nodded, but out of the blue, Carlos screamed "we might be too late!"

All three of them looked up to see StarScream being backed up by HotShot into the crane. They watched helplessly as the crane swerved to hang over a working drill that had been accidentally turned on. Terra swayed as the crane jolted to movement, in the trio's horror, she fell back. She barely caught the crane's edge and tried to no avail to pull herself up. StarScream snickered as he aimed his lasers at the area on the metal tower where the girl hung.

"NO!" the three shouted, But they couldn't stop the jet from shooting at Terra with merciless strength.

Pounding steps came behind the jet and arms hooked under his shoulders. HotShot's head popped out from behind StarScream.

"You'll pay for that!!" the Autobot spat as he slammed the red Decepticon into the ground.

He was already too late, though. Terra fell with screams ripping from her throat. The kids held their breath as HotShot Ran a few steps towards the drill, then lunging himself over it, catching the Amber-eyed girl in his hands and taking her to the other side.

His calculations were off as a sharp pain radiated from his leg. HotShot crouched, lowering Terra onto a small plateau of rock, before he examined his wound.

The metal skin protecting his inner workings had been shredded along with a few wires which were sparking profusely.

Meanwhile, Megatron and Optimus had dealt it out and both were thinking about the key. But even in the mightiest of earthquakes, one side has to give in. As Optimus pushed the Decepticon leader away, said leader took the time to look at the fights his men were in; SideSwipe had Cyclonus grounded and beaten up, StarScream was just now getting up, and RedAlert and Demolisher were currently having a laser battle, firing at each other from behind the safety of sturdy rocks. Now Megatron was a lot of things, but he could tell when it was time to formulate a new plan.

"Decepticons, Fall back!"

The helicopter pushed its captor away, Demolisher ceased firing, and StarScream growled, irritated.

In a blur, the four robots disappeared. Once a few moments passed, the kids emerged and the Autobots circled their leader with HotShot leaning on SideSwipe.

"Are you ok, sir?" RedAlert asked.

Optimus stood and surveyed the surroundings, "Im fine. But we need to find the key. Knowing Megatron, He'll come back to try and find it."

A skidding sound drew their attention, and they saw Terra slowly sitting herself down on the rock and hugging her book bag close to her, carefully and a little nervously she examined them. She wasn't afraid, not of them at least. Her fear had left her after HotShot had saved her from Megatraon's electrocution. But the amber-eyed girl stayed her distance as she contemplated whether they were of any threat. Alexis walked up to her, wiping the dirt on her cheek with her red jacket. "Terra, are you alright?"

At the sound of her name, amber eyes looked into disoriented blue ones, and nodded. "Wha-what are you doing here, Alexis? What is going on? And," she looked up towards the Autobots, "Who…or what, are they?"

Alexis looked back at the others, then back at the poor girl. Unsure if the truth might be too much right now."W-well, um…. they're basiclly, um…aliens...giant, robotic aliens."

Terra looked from her, to them, then back at Alexis "Oh." She said. Her eyes then lolled to the back of her head, and she fainted.

"Nice one Alexis, you really got a way with words." Carlos jeered from behind her.

Temper got the best of the brunette "Oh shut up!" she shouted, pulling Terra's arm around her neck and lifted the girl up off the ground.

"Hey, is she going to be ok?" Hot Shot asked.

Alexis examined her, "Yeah, she'll be alright."

"But what do we do with her now?"

Optimus Sighed, "She knows where the key is, we'll have to bring her with us."

Alexis nodded and the Autobot's transformed back into vehicle mode.

Once she got Terra into HotShot, Alexis saw Terra's bag had been left. As, she hurried to retrieve it, a strong wind blew past her.

A shiver raced down her spine.

'_Something bad is at work.' _Alexis thought morbidly, picking up the forgotten messenger bag. '_I just hope it doesn't involve us.'_

The brunette was quick to get back to her friends, who were eager to go find the key.

Dizziness was the first thing she felt before everything that had happened came back to her. Robots…Pain….More robots…and, her classmates. They had been there too. Why?

With a moan, she realized she was moving. Well she was _inside _something that was moving.

"Aha! So you're awake at last, eh girl?" a voice echoed.

Terra bolted upright at the voice, looking around. She was in a car, by herself, with no one driving. And yet here the car was speeding along, in a rocky valley. Who had spoken to her?

"Who's there?" she asked, "am I going crazy or am I dreaming?"

Once again, the voice came from nowhere. "Ha-ha! No you're not dreaming and as far as I know you're not crazy."

The car... The car had spoken to her. _Ok……I am going crazy, _Terra thought. She sighed and looked out the window. A semi-truck, an ambulance, and another sports car were driving too. She squinted and made out 3 figures in the Semi. Alexis, Rad, and Carlos were all talking inside the cab of the truck.

"Helllooo? Girl! Are you alive or not?" came the impatient voice.

Terra finally burst, talking cars was pushing it to the limit, "Who's talking to me?!" she hollered, eyes dejectedly looking at the radio, sighing.

"I remember being out in the quarry, and then those giants showed up; asking me about a key. The next thing I knew, some more giants came, and a yellow one, I remember it saved me…twice…"

Chuckling could be heard, and the girl pinpointed it to the radio. "That would be me."

Terra sat there in disbelief. Had the robot turned into this car? Sure it was the right color, but the whole thing was already hard to believe, and now…The amber-eyed girl suddenly felt a headache coming on.

"So, you are that big robotic thing I saw, huh?"

"Yup. Name's HotShot. And you're uh….." the voice drifted off.

"Terra." She finished.

"So you know where the key is? Cuz' we need it before those 'other giants' come back. They're not somebody you wanna deal with again." HotShot spoke

The poor girl groaned in response, "I have no idea what this key you guys are talking about even is! I don't know what you're looking for!"

"Ok, Ok! Calm down. Hang on." Terra looked at the radio, confused. She then heard the sound of HotShot's voice calling to someone else.

"Hey Optimus, The girls awake." He spoke kind of bored like.

A wise, elder-like voice drifted back with natural authority embedded into it, "That's good, does she know-"

"Where the key is? No sorry, I don't have any idea **what** it is." Terra answered for HotShot. The girl about had a heart attack when she heard Rad, Alexis, and Carlos all shouting at her at once.

"Hey Terra, girl are you ok?"

"Oh, I hope you're not hurt!"

"You don't know what or where the key is?"

Terra looked out the window into the truck, seeing all three of the teens in the window looking at her with different expressions. She waved to ease them.

"So you have no idea where it is?" RedAlert asked like many others had.

Terra sighed; perhaps she hadn't told them enough. "No, sorry but I don't."

Rad looked at her a little disappointed, "Hm, you haven't found anything strange looking lately?" he pondered.

Terra was about to answer with a definite 'no', but then stopped, reconsidered, and gasped in surprise.

"Maybe I do."

The four Autobots slowed to a halt, and the trio got out, Terra following suite. She was digging around in her bag for something, as the Robots transformed.

After a few seconds, Terra brought out a large, skillet-sized disk. It was thick and metallic white, with a bronze color inside. It was strange, indeed.

"So that's the key? Doesn't even look like one!" Carlos jeered.

A strange spark caught everyone's attention. It had come from the key, but why? Terra held it closer to her face for a better look and paid for it. A blinding light erupted from the small object; causing Terra to drop it and everyone else to shield their eyes from the pain of looking at an intense illumination that was like the suns.

'_This is insane!! What the heck is happening?' _Rad screamed in his head.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the light seceded and the group was left looking at a slumped Terra.

"Terra!" the trio of humans called.

"Are you all alright?" Optimus asked.

Alexis nodded, "Yeah we're just fine, but something happened to Terra."

"_I'm ok, I guess..." _the girl spoke up finally, panting a little "and the Stone key is ok too."

The group looked confused.

"What did you call that thing?" SideSwipe asked her, watching as the girls face was just as surprised as his.

"I-I guess I called it the stone key. That's what it is to me…the Yurasu Stone Key. It can control stone and rock." She spoke in monotone, like a zombie.

"Terra how do you know all this?" Carlos asked her.

Terra looked confused and a little shocked. She looked down at the thing in her hands like it was going to come out and eat her."Uh, I don't really know, I just touched the thing and it's like I know all about it."

Optimus hesitated, and then spoke "I think it might be because you were the one who activated it, Terra, maybe it gave you a special ability to read their powers."

"Oh, hm." Was the only thing that she could manage to express.

"And in that case, we need you to help us." He said, "My name is Optimus Prime."

He motioned to RedAlert, "This is our medic; RedAlert, and this is SideSwipe." The leader motioned to the bot, who saluted with his free hand and a smile.

"You already know HotShot."

The yellow Autobot nodded, but then an idea popped into his mind, "Uh sir, isn't it dangerous for her to help us, she might get hurt. The Decepticons will definitely come after her and the keys."

Optimus stayed silent for a moment before looking at the soldier.

"True, but if she does possess the power of the keys, I think they will protect her enough."

Apparently, that wasn't a good enough answer for him. "Yeah, still though…" a pause followed and everything was silent until the leader spoke once more.

"Alright then, HotShot, you can be her guardian."

Chappie 2 up! I am happy I'm revising this, last time the first two chapters weren't so good…

Pronunciation

(1) Arcyria/ R-Seer-EE-uh


	3. Hunt

**Why hello, my dearest readers! It is I, DJ Rae! And yes I am starting chapter three of Secret of the Arcyria Keys. I have planned this story out until the end; all I have to do now is write em! Mwa ha aha ha ha ha!!!! Why that it's laughable, you shall never know.**

**Ugh, high school work is killing me. If you don't believe me, here's a list:**

**-key club**

**-skits**

**-5 classes a day**

**-dance**

**-stories**

**-art**

**-finals (blech)**

**-sleeping (and I seem to be getting less of this.)**

**On the plus, I have a new way to upload! My school has a personal page for every student, and I can upload during mah homeroom! (Around 10; 35ish) **

**I knows you pplz are probably tired of listening to me so here goes the next chappie!**

**DISCLAIMER/ I keep forgetting to do these…..sigh I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS, ARMADA OR OTHERWISE**

**Lalalalalalallalalalalalalalalalallalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala**

Chapter 3/ Hunt

'_I never once thought that when I moved here, I would find this much excitement. My heart has always beaten __very __faintly, so I was advised not to make it beat any faster. Hehe, too late for that! One moment I'm standing in a quarry, looking at a strange disk I found there, the next; I'm surrounded by gigantic robots! Then they're talking about some weird key, which is entirely Greek to me._

'_I guess it's like my cousin, Lori, always said: "life is full of the unexpected, so plan for it.". But I do think that my cousin is a little on the insane side. I've known that my life was going to drastically change ever since, well, the accident. But not like this, no, never like this…_

Piercing white light burned into the retinas of amber eyes as they looked about the base in awe.

"O-oh my…"was all that she could stutter out. Terra was clinging to Alexis, cutting off her circulation in her arm. Still wounded, she could only blink with enlarged eyes.

HotShot had been taken by RedAlert to the medical room for repairs, so the rest of them were standing in the Command room, watching Terra's eyes get bigger and bigger.

Said girl, raised up her hand to her mouth and bit her nail in realization, "This is no dream."

Optimus looked at the poor girl as she looked from wall to wall to even the ceiling.

"Terra," he spoke wisely, which immediately caught the scarlet-haired girl's attention. "I need you to try and do something."

Terra cocked her head to the side a little, but nodded.

"I'd like you to try and control the Stone Key. See if you can use it."

Too many things flew through those amber eyes for anyone to tell what she was thinking, but none the less she nodded once again.

She pulled herself from Alexis, who backed away to give the girl space. Rad handed the key to Terra, who took it a little hesitantly. She held it up a bit and stared at it with half lidded eyes.

For a small time, nothing happened. Before anyone had a chance to speak a blinding light, much like the one before, washed over the entire room. It felt as if an earthquake hit the base, the ground shook with so much ferocity, it knocked the 3 humans down and both SideSwipe and Optimus had to balance themselves to keep themselves from falling as well.

As quickly as it came, it was gone. As for the beings in the room, gasped at what they saw. Terra had fallen back and was staring in awe at the sight before her: a stone pillar had risen in front of her, just a little ways before where she had been standing.

"Oh my-" was all Alexis could voice.

Optimus nodded, "I see, you do have some control over it. But you might need some practice." It was at that moment that RedAlert and the repaired HotShot chose to dash in, only to stare in awe the pillar of stone that jutted out of the metal flooring.

"Uh, sir, what happened here?" HotShot asked.

"Terra just exhibited her powers." SideSwipe explained, "And it was a sight to see."

Said girl looked from them back down to the key in her hands. "I didn't know I could…"

'_What's happening to me?' _she asked herself.

"I am sorry that you had to be involved with this, Terra, but what's done is done. Will you please help us in our mission?" Came Optimus Prime's esteemed voice. Terra looked into his eyes, and he could tell she wanted nothing to do with the savage violence that was in store for them all. None the less, her answer came in timid worry: "Yes."

The wind whisked through the four teen's hair as they motored down a street illuminated by the setting sun. The trio had taken the Mini-Cons (A/n: who disappeared when they left XD) home with them, sitting Terra behind Alexis on Sureshock. All three of them were trying to get her to say something, but she remained silent beyond a few words here and there.

The two boys went their own way, and Terra directed Alexis to where she lived. Once they reached her house, which was a nice Arizonan Villa, the brunette stopped the red head.

"Terra, I know you're a little freaked out right now, I admit I was too after my first mission with the Autobots, but you don't have to worry about a thing. Those guys are the best, they'll look after you and I know you'll grow to like them a lot, so don't be afraid to come with us tomorrow back to their base, ok?" Alexis smiled reassuringly at her.

The smile was contagious, Terra nodded.

"Alright, I'll try and stay sane, Good-night Alexis." She waved.

Alexis returned the wave, walking back to Sureshock. "Yeah, Good-Night Terra, see you tomorrow."

**Terra **

I told my godparents that I had been hanging out with some new friends from school, and that my wounds came from sports that we had played all day, they were ecstatic about the fact that I had made friends on my first day, so they dint notice the cuts and bruises all along my arms and legs . I resigned myself for the night and journeyed up the stairs to my room. Plopping down on the bed, I closed my eyes and thought of everything that had happened today. Oi, it gave me a headache just thinking about tomorrow.

Opening my eyes, it laid them upon a picture: a picture of me and _them _before the incident.

I missed them. It was true, and I started to wonder that if they were still alive, would this of happened? When I fall asleep tonight, will this have all been a dream? Do I want it to be a dream? I couldn't say. All I knew is that I needed to talk to someone; Lori would have to do. Punching the speaker button, I hit #5, and it started to ring.

"Yo." a feminine voice came through the plastic speaker.

I smiled at the bored hint in it, Lori loved excitement and hated how boring life apparently was.

"Hey Felizia (1). I got myself into a situation; a pretty messed up one too. So I needed to talk to you."

There was a pause, "webcam?"

"Sure." I pushed the button to hang up.

Pulling myself off my bed and getting over to my desk was a lot harder than I thought. I was still so sore. I awoke my computer, staring at my reflection in the black until my background brightly flared. Clicking the icon in the corner, a window grew on my screen, showing Lori's interested facial expression.

"So what's up ангел (2)?" she asked curiously in her native tongue.

Sighing, I looked at her dual colored hair; hot pink and ebony black. Strange; Just like Lori. "Well, I found some interesting new friends here, and its not that they aren't nice, it's just like…..they're from another planet."

She raised a slim eyebrow at that. "Are they guys?"

"All but one."

Sitting back she smiled at me, "Well that's to be expected. Males are natural born idiots."

(A/N: no offense, it's just Lori's attitude.)

I decided to change subjects to lighten my mood; "So how's the weather in Russia?"

My cousin just shrugged, "its fine for a Russian, but you'd freeze your butt off out here."

Chuckling, I saw the door to the room Lo was in open. I smiled at the new arrival.

"Hey Khristophe, how are you?"

My other cousin glared at me, he hated it when people used his first name instead of his nickname. All he did was push his half-glasses back up with his middle finger. "Please don't call me that, Terra. You know I hate it."

Before I could respond, Lori barked at her brother for me. "Darren! Don't you talk to Terr that way, she asked how are you!" all the boy did was walk towards Lori's laptop.

"So what's new in the desert? Make any new friends?" he ignored his sister, which was a big mistake. A swift kick to his shin caused the silver haired boy to fall to the ground in pain. From the floor I could hear him mumble "Mom never should have let you join soccer."

"Becoming captain didn't help you either, but did I quit? Nope, and I never will. And why? Because I love kicking you so much." The self proclaimed marine girl snickered.

I was getting tired of their bickering, so I just smiled and said goodnight to them, which they both responded to (even though Lori had her brother in a head-lock and Darren had his hand clenched around his sister's long braid.)

Powering down my computer I walked back to my bed, and fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

I ended up falling asleep with the Stone key and my photo lying near me, not sure of which path to take.

**(Normal)**

A few weeks passed since the stone key had been found, and the air itself seemed to get thin with anticipation. Terra, after spending a few days away, finally went back to the Autobot base everyday like Rad, Carlos, and Alexis. Once every couple of days, Terra would be asked to use the key, and every time it happened, she seemed to gain more control over it. Carlos thought it was like the key was alive and obeying her orders.

Rad and Alexis told him to stop watching so much T.V.

But it began as the routine normal day. The kids were done with school and were driving towards the base. Terra had become much more comfortable around her human friends, but as for the Transformers; she was still extremely wary of them.

They arrived at the base in perfect timing; they waited for their mini-cons to transform and as soon as the four entered the base, Terra stopped dead in her tracks. The others looked back at their friend and saw that her eyes were blank and she had stopped breathing, but was still standing.

In a panic they raced to her, "Terra, are you ok?" Alexis asked worriedly.

The amber-eyed girl stayed still and silent for a few more moments before she gasped in air and looked around at her friends.

Panting, she breathed out, "Another key….it's activated."

Before anyone could say anything else, alarms went off around the base, just as they did when they were hunting for a newly awakened Mini-con. From the other end of a hall, HotShot skidded through, looking at the kids with an excited grin,

"We gotta go another-"

"Key has been activated?" Rad asked with a smile.

HotShot looked puzzled, "how'd you know?"

All three of them pointed to Terra, who was still catching her breath, "Terra sensed it a few seconds before the alarm went off."

Alexis helped Terra up and all of them ran towards the command room.

'_These powers of mine, they're so strange. This has never happened to me before, so why now? Oh, right, all those Arcensia keys or whatever are activating. Well, that's my life for you.'_

She pulled herself out of her thoughts to find her self in the command room. Optimus and the two other robots, who she found out were called 'RedAlert' and 'SideSwipe', were looking at a digital map of Earth, she guessed that they were trying to locate the key.

And from the looks of it, they couldn't find it.

Terra smiled, "It's out in California, Redwood national forest to be exact." She said. The robots and the kids looked at her, obviously surprised.

"You can tell where it is?" RedAlert asked.

Terra nodded, with an uneasy smile, "I guess so."

Optimus turned to RedAlert, who was already typing away at the computer.

"RedAlert?"

The medic looked back with a smile and nodded. "We're set to go, sir."

All the Autobots nodded, it would definitely be interesting to see what this key could do.

Except Terra; she hated her newly developed powers, and the misfortune it wrought.

Once all four of the Transformers switched into vehicle mode; the kids piled into them.

Rad with Optimus, Carlos with SideSwipe, Alexis and RedAlert, and Terra left with her new guardian.

Terra was staring wide-eyed at the colossal screen with coordinates flashing all over them.

"Hey, c'mon girl, let's go!" HotShot barked, annoyed.

The sharp tone of his voice immediately snapped her out of her awe. She climbed into the bot and put the stone key she had been cradling in her arms into her book bag.

Terra wondered how on earth they were going to get the national forest from just sitting here. The girl was cut off in her thoughts when she heard Optimus shout;

"Launch!"

This was immediately followed by a sensation that made Terra want to retch and faint. She felt woozy and sick. "What the heck just happened?"

"We warped, what else?" HotShot asked sarcastically, "See if you can pinpoint the key."

The girl was a little taken aback at his tone, like he didn't want anything to do with her, but obliged. She closed her eyes, and for some strange reason, cupped her hands at the center of her chest. _'Ok, why am I doing this? Force of habit maybe…'_

It was an odd thing; Terra could remember when she closed her eyes all she would see was black; now… it was like a mental grid inside of her mind. She could outline the enormous trees around them and the roads through the park. It was like her brain had a built in G.P.S. system. And it the distance of her simulated world, she could see a small glow; like a radio-active meteor that had crash-landed. She didn't have to guess; it was the key.

Terra opened her eyes once more, seeing them on an open road; it was dead ahead.

"Well?" An annoyed HotShot asked.

"It's right in front of us, just a little ways away." She answered quietly.

The yellow bot relayed the girl's words to his comrades, and soon all four vehicles were driving off further into the dense woods.

'_He hates me' _Terra thought to herself with a sarcastic smile '_I don't blame him. Stuck babysitting some strange girl; I feel so out of place, I wish Darren and Lori were here with me'_

The Autobots had separated a while ago after deciding they could cover more ground of the park by splitting up. They stayed in contact through their communications device, often asking Terra questions about their location distance from the key.

Sighing quietly, the amber eyed-girl closed herself from the outside world and thought of her Godparents and her cousin's family. _'I wonder if they'll notice eventually that something's not right,' _concentrating, Terra brought an image of her cousins and herself in Russia when she had gone to visit them over summer vacation. Smiling, she remembered how wonderful life was for her back then. The girl's peaceful thoughts were interrupted by a sharp jolt inside her mind. Terra's eyes snapped open and a single word ripped from her mouth: "Stop!!"

HotShot immediately slammed on his brakes, skidding on the slightly wet dirt road. Grunting in frustration, he barked at his charge, who was already out and looking around.

"Oh, what is it now, girl? This better be-"

"It's up there." She cut off, pointing to the high branches of a nearby Redwood.

The yellow autobot looked up to the giant, even by his size, tree.

"The key is up there?" he pointed.

A nod.

"No problem, I'll just blast the tree down and we can get it." HotShot said, walking towards the very old plant. He was stopped, however, by a slab of stone rising in front of him; blocking his way. The bot heard Terra speak behind him;

"No wait, you don't have to cut it down. I'll just climb up there and reach it."

HotShot looked up; the girl would never be able to reach the top; fear of heights would set in or she'd fall. Either way, it was less work for him, why not let her?

He took a step back, watching as the girl walked to the foundation of the Redwood.

'_Oh no, what did I get myself into? I'm never going to be able to climb all this.' _She thought, trying desperately to think of a way up. The nearest branches were still very far up; the absolute height seemed nauseating and impossible.

The tranquility was interrupted, however. As Terra was facing the tree, her eyes enlarged when she noticed her shadow grew darker and larger. Much, much larger and in the oddest shape.

Like that of a towering giant, with jet wings sprouting from the shoulders.

The girl slowly looked back in fear, and the sight she was met with made her eyes almost fall out.

StarScream loomed over her with a sinister look in his eyes and a malicious smile.

"Hello, girlie."

Canons poised themselves with bright lasers to fire at the human, who was paralyzed at the moment.

"You are the seeker, aren't you? Well why don't you try finding the key for me." StarScream laughed.

He wasn't laughing for long. With a harsh slam, a yellow fist collided with the Decepticon's face. Terra looked into the blue optics of her ticked off savior.

Growling, HotShot barked out "Get up there girl, before he gets the key!!"

With that he grabbed her, lifting her as high as possible. A hasty toss upward caused the girl to grab onto a nearby branch for dear life. Terra's entire body dangling and her palms being torn up by the rough bark made her look down, and see how dreadfully high she was. She saw HotShot and StarScream shooting at each other like a western showdown in an impressive display of lights and explosions.

Focusing on her task, Terra looked back up to the large branch. Inhaling she pulled herself up with all her might. Once the girl had raised herself up enough, she slid her knee onto the wood, hoisting herself up even more. Exhaling her breath, Terra slung her leg over the thick branch. Looking back up, she saw the branches become more and more numerous.

'_Still a long way to go, the key can be anywhere up here…' _

Scooting herself over to the trunk, reaching up to the next branch, and then climbing it about shot her nerves. Terra's hands were visibly shaking and her panting seemed to be more like hyperventilation than exhaustion.

Down below, the clash of the metal titans raged as Autobot and Decepticon forces pushed against one another.

In a freak moment, HotShot turned the tables and slammed StarScream up against a tree he presumed vacant; he was wrong. An earthquake shook the tree causing the human occupant to be jolted and thrown from her reaching position.

But another object was thrown from its resting place somewhere in the tree; a silver rimmed disk with a brown interior. In a desperate attempt, Terra flailed her arm to try and grab the valuable artifact but utterly failed and the key tumbled down into the grip of one certain maniacal jet while the poor girl in the branches fell all the way to the ground far below.

HotShot saw all this and cursed his horrible luck. He released StarScream and rushed to catch the human. With outstretched arms, he leapt and caught Terra midair. But as the amber eyed girl was set down on the ground, a large Redwood branch crashed down onto the helpless Autobot's body. Terra watched in shock as HotShot Struggled to move the branch that seemed to have all of the earth's gravity on it. StarScream's cackling boomed over the grunts of HotShot.

"What's wrong Autobot? Can't move? What a shame…" The Tree Key shining in his hand, it glowed brightly to indicate an attack "well if you won't come at me I'll just crush you where you lie!"

Another tree obeyed the Decepticon's will and launched itself at the fallen yellow bot. Blue optics closed, waiting for impact, but found it never came. HotShot opened his eyes to find a shadow before him and two, jean covered legs standing there. Gazing upward, he found Terra standing defiantly, Stone key in hand, and a wall of stone standing between them and a Redwood.

Motioning her arms, the girl surged the stone forward to her enemy and took a few steps back towards HotShot. StarScream hadn't taken much damage from the stone, but he knew that the girl could be much more of a headache than he was willing to deal with; and besides, if he killed her, Megatron would kill him. Growling, he reverted to vehicle mode and flew off, leaving the duo behind in the dark of the Redwood canopy.

After making sure that her was gone, the girl ran to the side of her protector. The redwood had lost it's strength and it now became easy for the Autobot to push off the tree and stand before her.

"You ok, Terra?" Hot Shot gasped out.

She was obviously shocked at the words he spoke. "Uh, yeah…but."

"But what?"

"Well, you didn't call me 'girl'; you actually used my name this time."

HotShot stared at her for a second, contemplating what he said. After a few moments, he replied childishly, "huh, guess I did." The bot closed his eyes and let his head fall back, "Dunno why, but I have feeling that this is going to get real fun, eh Terra?"

A faint smile spread across her lips, "yeah, if you can call it fun, HotShot."

Terra let her head fall beck too.

'_maybe being this seeker thing isn't going to be that bad, not if I have people like this around me, and ,' _she thought, looking at her guardian, '_this is more adventure than I would have ever thought I'd find in my new little town.'_

HotShot's voice woke her from her daze "Hey c'mon Terra, let's find the others and tell them what happened!" he shouted.

"Coming!" she said as she watched him turn to vehicle mode and open the door for her.

Once inside, the two drove down the mud road through the giants, which would be the only witnesses of what had taken place there.

Felizia, her full name is Feliciatas Lorilei Viktorya Novako, You'll see later that Felizia is the nickname that her father gave her, she hates it.

Ангел- Russian, meaning 'Angel' this is Lori's nickname for Terra, and it's also her middle name.

Whew! Dang I can't believe I typed so much(4,000 words is a lot for me)! I can't believe I procrastinate so much! **Why don't people tell me these things? **I feel bad when I do this, bad authoress….

OH WELL, UNTIL NEXT TIME…OR NEXT YEAR WHICHEVER ONE COMES FIRST!!

Pth, I wouldn't do that to you…..or would I? No. Yes. Maybe. HA!. No.

Luvs!

DJ RAE


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